(..)Sunday Independent gathered that the six occupants included Governor of Kaduna State, Patrick Yakowa, former National Security Adviser (NSA), Andrew Azazi and their aides: Dauda Tsoho and Warrant Officer Mohammed Kamal as well as the pilot and a co-pilot –Commander Muritala Mohammed Daba and Lt. Adeyemi O. Showole. They were said to have been burnt beyond recognition after the helicopter landed
fatally and caught fire east of Okoroba
soon after take-off between 3.p.m. and
4.p.m. on Saturday.

The helicopter was said to be heading for Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, when it nosedived fatally and went up in flames. The victims were among several dignitaries, mainly politicians, who were in Okoroba to commiserate with one of President Goodluck Jonathan’s powerful aides.

The cause of the accident could not be
ascertained at press time on Saturday.

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About beegeagle

BEEG EAGLE -perspectives of an opinionated Nigerian male with a keen interest in Geopolitics, Defence and Strategic Studies

May the souls of all the departed (especially the millitary pilots) rest in peace.

Without meaning to sound churlish, one cannot help but question why a millitary asset (the naval helicopter) and valuable millitary personnel (the pilots) were used for a purely civilian social event.- the burial of the father of one of the President’s special advisers. I really feel for the families of the naval pilots (who had no choice in the matter).

If the course of the crash was due to mechanical failure, one cannot help but recall the statement made by the Naval CNS during the budget defence for the Navy at the National Assembly – when he lamented about the fact that a rediculous amount of money (100 million naira?) had been allocated for the maintenance of Naval equipment in the navy’s 2013 budget.

Very very sad. The cost of training a military chopper pilot, gone just like that. x2. And years of experience, you can’t put a cost to that. Breadwinners gone. Politicians have stashed enough wealth for their next generation to cater for themselves. I’ll hold my peace on this one. Sad.

You all are right, with a capital letter R. Look there are tons of helicopter hire service providers here in port-harcourt, why use the limited(very) navy resource. Besides whether or not they were carrying VIP’s the helicopter would have crashed that day anyway.

Sometimes I wonder who approves all these silly budgets, instead of giving the military at the very least 90% of what they asked for, military personnel would be seen complaining about the peanuts, Esp. Navy approved. Then you expect the military to protect the entire gulf of guinea, under resourced, with good results. In what village those this foolishness happen???

Now of our very lean helicopter resource, another one is lost. May the souls of everyone lost in the crash rest in peace, and my heart felt condolences to the families of the bereaved for this irreplaceable loss. Also specifically to the family of the dead navy pilot, the entire navy family and the military at large for the loss of this valuable military asset.

Yeah, I know Henry. Spent thirteen years cumulatively living, schooling or working in that PHC-Warri axis.

Nembe-Brass is only accessible after six hours of travelling by boat from PHC. Makes the hop to Bonny seem like a walk in the park. That is southermost Nigeria – further out than Calabar or anywhere else on the Gulf of Guinea coast.

It is both in the Niger Delta and on the edge of the Atlantic – brown and blue water. The first Stingray that I ever ate was caught at that Nembe-Brass-Bassambri axis.

Got lots of friends from that side too – the Ngeris, Efebos, Fetepigis et al.